Now Lions must soar at altitude

WE HAVE a series. At least that was the general consensus in the press box at the final whistle. That, I hope, is not wishful thinking.

Astonishingly, the Lions could and possibly should have won a game that they really had no right to on the basis of their performance in the first 60 minutes. Anyone suggesting they would leave Durban in a positive frame of mind when trailing by 19 points early in the second half might have been shepherded towards a padded van.

History suggests the Lions find it almost impossible to recover an opening test defeat and win a series and that is without having to contend with the demands of altitude. Such was the influence of an incredible midfield performance from the majestic pairing of Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll, anything is possible. They offer hope at a time when the Lions tour party must accentuate the positives from a bizarre test match. One wonders what would have happened if the dynamic duo had any set-piece dominance to work from in that opening half.

The psychological damage that results from a retreating scrum knocked the tourists for six as the unfortunate Phil Vickery was mangled by the outstanding Tendai Mtawarira – aka The Beast in this part of the world. Quite why the Lions management took so long to introduce Adam Jones, who had a massive impact when belatedly coming on early in the second half, is a mystery.

Pre-match speculation that the Springboks would suffer from a lack of any recent game time was blown out the window with a display of immense physicality in the opening quarter when all our worst fears were realised. If the auditions had gone well for the Lions in their pre-test phase, the opening night started disastrously when South Africa raced into a 10-point lead in as many minutes. Their inspirational captain John Smit not only buried the notion that he would be vulnerable on the tight head side of the scrum but also showed that the extra poundage he has put on to anchor the scrum has not impacted on his mobility when crashing over for the opening try.

The question now is how much of the Springbok demise in that pulsating second half was down to an arrogance of a seemingly unassailable lead. The world champions were hanging on for dear life in the closing minutes as the Lions battered their line chasing the try that would have signalled the greatest comeback in Lions test history.

Not for the first time on this tour, discipline has been a major problem for the Lions. From an early stage they got on the wrong side of a very fussy referee in Bryce Lawrence and paid the price. Quite how the New Zealand official failed to yellow card any Springbok for consistent infringement in their own 22 in the last quarter remains a mystery. Normally after three successive penalty concessions in the red zone, somebody visits the sin bin. He never even issued a warning.

Of even more importance, the Lions management need to examine just how they allowed South Africa to completely dominate possession in the first half when their pack was bullied and overpowered to an embarrassing degree. There is no doubt that apart from the intensively physical match against the Southern Kings, when only Ugo Monye of the test side started, the lack of any meaningful contest on the way to Saturday’s first test left the Lions with a false sense of security. What was even more surprising was the force of the Springbok maul given that it remained dormant throughout the Super 14 campaign. The Lions were powerless to stop it and it was a wonder Smit and company failed to launch it with more regularity.

All week, the Lions management were fretting on the influence of Hendrich Brussow at the breakdown but there was precious little to separate the sides with the Lions only conceding one more turnover (11-10), in general play. It was noticeable, however, that once Brussow was withdrawal prematurely in the second half that all of a sudden the Lions pack was able to produce quicker ball.

As expected, both sides kicked an inordinate amount of ball in the search for territorial dominance. Unfortunately for the Lions, Stephen Jones kicked poorly out of hand as well as missing a couple of early penalties. Surprisingly Ronan O’Gara was never given an opportunity off the bench. When one considers that the Lions crossed the Springbok line on three occasions but failed to ground the ball due to some excellent scramble defence, it shows that against all the odds, they could have won this test. On two occasions, Monye should have done better. As it was, outscoring the Boks by three tries to two on such limited possession, just offers a glimpse of what this back line is capable of. That said, the South African midfield defence will hardly be as accommodating next Saturday in Loftus Versfeld.

Where to now for the Lions? They require a spirited response from the team to face the Emerging Springboks in Cape Town tomorrow night to get the show back on the road. That now looks a difficult fixture. There will have to be changes in the front and second rows of the scrum for the second test and the selection for tomorrow night’s game could be telling. Adam Jones is a certainty to start next Saturday while Matthew Rees may squeeze out Lee Mears. Donnacha O’Callaghan and Nathan Hines are fighting to replace Alan Wyn Jones whose partnership with Paul O’Connell failed to have the desired effect. Luke Fitzgerald looks a better option than Monye who failed to capitalise on his opportunities and Lee Byrne is an injury doubt.

The opening few weeks of this tour have been relatively straightforward for the management team. All of a sudden the pressure is on from all sides as one would expect that the Springboks will have learned a hell of a lot from a game of contrasting fortunes.

South Africa will be keen to go for a full 80 minutes in Pretoria and finish the series. They will be very annoyed with the manner in which they fell away in the last quarter and will be even more focused. Now that’s a scary thought.